Roeder happy for home chance

West Ham manager Glenn Roeder insists he is glad to have a home draw in the FA Cup despite his side’s abject form at Upton Park this season.

The Hammers, who have not won any of their 12 home games this season, face First Division high-flyers Nottingham Forest in one of the ties which on paper has all the hallmarks of an upset.

West Ham have a dreadful record against lower league opposition in cup competitions over the last decade and have already lost at home to Second Division Oldham in the Worthington Cup this season.

Forest are fourth in Division One and possess the division’s top goalscorer in David Johnson.

But Roeder maintains that playing at home is still an advantage to his team and wants to start the 2003 campaign at Upton Park with a victory.

He said: “It is nice to have a home tie – all you can ask for in a cup competition is to be drawn at home and we have been granted that wish with a very attractive tie against Nottingham Forest.

“They play very good football, they are not a physical team, and I don’t think they will come and try and mix it with us.

“It is good to know you are going to play a team that likes to get the ball down, like ourselves, make passes, and from that create opportunities.”

He added on the official club website, www.whufc.com: “It is the first game at home in the new year and we want to get it off to a winning start at Upton Park.

“It is a massive day for Nottingham Forest who have got some young players, I am sure they will rise to the occasion and it will be a very good game.

“They have one player, Michael Dawson, that the whole country is looking at at the moment, and he has been in England Under-21s and then asked to train with the seniors.

“It is a big day for all their players, an opportunity to play at Upton Park, but it is a big game for us because we want to kick off 2003 with a home victory.

“We have done enough, not in every game, but in a lot of them, to have turned draws or even defeats – in the case of Southampton – into winning performances.”

Frederic Kanoute has been ruled out of the tie because he is heading to Canada to see a specialist in a bid to cure his ongoing groin injury.

Club captain Steve Lomas is doubtful with an ankle problem, and Roeder is considering letting him have an injection that will mean him missing one game, but which will probably ensure he is fit for the rest of the season.